Lee Circle and streets within a block of the Confederate monument were closed to traffic Friday morning in advance of the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue. The dismantling is expected to last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

The Lee statue is the last of four monuments New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieuwants removed from public property.

Police just before 3:30 a.m. Friday closed streets around Lee Circle, including a portion of St. Charles Avenue. These intersections were included in the closures:

Calliope and Carondelet streets

St. Charles and Calliope

Howard Avenue and Carondelet

St. Joseph Street and St. Charles

Camp Street and Andrew Higgins Drive

The St. Charles streetcar line is on detour from Erato Street to the Downtown loop until further notice, according to the Regional Transit Authority. The detour started Thursday afternoon. Buses will replace streetcars in this service area:

To Canal from Uptown: From St. Charles, taking a left on M.L. King, then a right on Carondelet to Canal.

From Canal to Uptown: From St. Charles, taking a right on Julia, then a left on Baronne, then another left onto M.L. King to St. Charles.

For more information, call RTA's Rideline at 504-248-3900 or check www.norta.com.

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Times-Picayune reporter Doug MacCash and T-P photographer David Grunfeld contributed to this story.